World Bank‐directed Development? Negotiating Participation in the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Laos

Abstract

The omnipotence of the World Bank on a global scale means that it is often regarded as the most influential partner in bringing about transformations in developing countries. This article contributes to ongoing discussions of this issue by examining some effects of the Bank's participatory agenda in one of its flagship projects, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) hydropower scheme in Laos. Critical accounts suggest that the Bank's promotion of participation in donor‐dependent countries like Laos is either a guise or an imposition. These propositions are considered in two settings where participation was debated around the time of the Bank's loan appraisal for NT2: first, an international stakeholders’ workshop held in Vientiane; and second, some international attempts to identify the concerns of villagers living near the NT2 dam site. In workshops and villages, participation is a negotiated performance whereby competing representations emerge through the interaction between village, state and international actors. More generally, this article shows that a grounded view of development can attend to the practices that constrain the hegemonic tendencies of the World Bank, even while maintaining awareness of the potency of its policies and interventions.

The Politics of Marketising Asia

“…3 Importantly, however, much of the indirect assistance that does flow from the ADB relates to proposed "economic corridors" including the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC), GMS "Flagship Initiatives" that have the stated aims of facilitating trade and investment and reducing poverty across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (Asian Development Bank 2010bBank , 2010c. The ADB's focus on these corridors continues its traditional emphasis in the region on large-scale integrative infrastructure projects, including the contentious Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Dam in Laos (Simpson 2007;Singh 2009). The focus on these integrative projects, along with recent political events, suggests significant room for growth in the ADB's work in Myanmar.…”

Governing Anti-conservation Sentiments: Forest Politics in Laos

“…Also, widespread aspirations for prosperity and social improvement complicate attempts to characterize the effects of development as either completely desired or undesired by the people affected (Singh 2009b). A final point to note is that emphasizing the significance of state practices by no means negates the substantial social impacts of conservation.…”

Religious Resurgence, Authoritarianism, and “Ritual Governance”:BaciRituals, Village Meetings, and the Developmental State in Rural Laos

“…The following outlines the considerable social divides between government officials and ethnic minority villagers in Nakai, which not surprisingly persisted despite the World Bank promoting NT2 as a model of participatory development (Singh 2009). While the personal visit made by senior officials to remote villages signified a meaningful commitment to engaging with villagers, the divides between these social groups were at the forefront of all interactions and provide a context in which ritual governance assumes particular importance.…”